Friday, September 7, 2012

If you poke around the NBA2K game options, you will find something called the "game sliders". You can really get into customizing your game style by messing around with these sliders to get exactly what you want out of the game. I personally don't touch these sliders and leave them at what they are originally set at.

If you spend any time online researching NBA2K, you will find basically two camps of people - those who never touch the game sliders and those who do. These two groups of people are also easy to find. To find the people who don't touch them as much, go to the 2ksports forums. And for the group of people who do adjust them, head over to the Operation Sports forums.

Go to the 2k forums and ask a question about how to do something and you most likely will get a technique like "use the controller to do" what you want to do. Ask the same question over at Operation Sports and you will most likely get someone to say "well, I adjust the sliders" to do what you ask. I personally like to refer to the guys at OS as "Slider Nation".

I don't think there is anything really wrong with adjusting the sliders but I use the ones out of the box because if I ever want to play someone online, I want a consistent experience with the game both offline and online.

So while I'm not a member of slider nation so to speak, I do care about one thing and that is which slider set I am going to use for the games I do play. There are basically four sets of sliders and they are called "Game Styles". The game styles are:

Default

Simulation

Casual

Custom

Oftentimes I play someone new online in the play with friends section and they will leave the game style setting at "default" and I will ask them to put it on "simulation". Usually, they will say, "What's the difference?" Since I don't want to spend all day messaging on PSN about the difference I just say I play everyone on the same setting which is true. But there is a difference and I'll address that here in a moment.

Within each set of game styles, there are five sections of sliders you can adjust. Those sections are:

Offense

Defense

Attributes

Tendencies

Fouls

Within each of these divisions are the "sliders" you can adjust from a setting of zero to 100.

Before I get into the differences between slider sets, let me first explain what a slider does. Let's say for a minute that you honed in on "3PT success". This slider changes the success on 3 point shots. You'll notice that it is set for 50. To keep it simple, if you set it at zero, then none of your threes will go in and if you set it at 100 then all of your threes will go in.

The other thing that you can do is set one set of sliders for you, the user, and one for the CPU. TheKid does this all of the time. He'll crank up his for fun and then steal the ball all the time and sinks all of his threes.

So What's The Difference Between Each Set Of Sliders?

OK. So now you have a basic idea of how the sliders affect the game play. You can see that if you wanted to make the game a heck of a lot easier, then all you have to do is make a few adjustments and presto, the game is easier, or harder if you chose to do that for some reason.

I will first go into the offensive set of sliders. Here you can adjust the following offensive sets: Inside Shot Success, Close Shot Success, Mid-Range Success, 3PT Success, Layup Success, Dunk Success, Dunk in Traffic Success, Pass Accuracy, Alley-Oop Success, Contact Shot Success.

You can see that all of the default slider set is set at 50 while there are three differences on offense on simulation making it harder to shoot inside and if you get bumped and only one on casual making it easier to pass.

Next up are the defensive sliders. Here you can adjust the following defensive sets: Driving Contact Shot Frequency, Inside Contact Shot Frequency, Help Defense Strength, Steal Success.

Again, the default set is all at a value of 50 while simulation draws more contact and less steal success. This is important when playing another user. Notice if you play a user on default and they are spamming the steal button they would have much more success against you. Under the casual, there's just not as much contact and it's even more likely you will get a steal.

The next set of sliders apply to the player tendencies. These would adjust the following player tendencies: Take Inside Shots, Take Close Shots, Take Mid-Range Shots, Take 3Pt Shots, Attack the Basket, Look for Post Players, Throw Alley-Oops, Attempt Dunks, Attempt Putbacks, Play Passing Lanes, Go for On-Ball Steals, Contest Shots and Backdoor Cuts.

The last set of sliders affects what kind of fouls are called and how often. Here are the fouls it affects: Over the Back Foul Frequency, Charging Foul Frequency, Blocking Foul Frequency, Reaching Foul Frequency, Shooting Foul Frequency and Loose Ball Foul Frequency.

Basically, you can tell from the spreadsheet that there will be more fouls in simulation mode and way less in casual mode.

What Set Of Sliders Should I Use Or Should I Use Custom Sliders?

A lot of times, I will say that I use the default sliders. But what I am really saying is that I don't change any of the sliders and am using the ones that are preset in the game for simulation. I do this because I want to play on the settings found on everybody's game system. If I play my friend online or at his house, I want to be accustomed to a certain set of sliders that are consistent from game to game. For me personally, I prefer the simulation set of sliders because it's a tad harder than default in some important areas. I hope it's obvious that you wouldn't want to choose the casual set if you want a serious game.

As far as using your own custom slider set, over at slider nation, you'll find a few people who have become famous for their sets of sliders and you can certainly check that out. I think that mainly those sliders are for if you are playing the CPU rather than other users.

What's probably most important is that if you are going to delve into sliders is that you use the same ones all of the time and be consistent from mode to mode.

This is why I go with the preset simulation game style sliders. No matter who I play or where, I know exactly what kind of game I will get.

If you want my opinion then, you know that I am going to encourage you to just use the simulation sliders and leave it at that and resist the temptation to solve your game play problems by adjusting the sliders. It's a crutch more than anything I think.

Besides, I think it means more to win on hall of fame mode on simulation sliders than if you did it by using a custom set - unless of course you made it harder!

I hope that helps you understand sliders and how to use them. Let me know if you have any questions.

Friday, March 30, 2012

I'm about to start another best of seven series. This series will be against the Milwaukee Bucks. Before the series gets started, I wanted to do a quick breakdown of what I am thinking before I begin it, so you can see the kind of planning I'm doing to prepare for it. I'm on the PS3 and in this series, I'll be facing PSN user sreckless.

Sreckless recently defeated me 0-4 when he used the always tough Boston Celtics. On paper, the edge in this series seems to favor the Pacers but I'm certain that he will be just as tough to beat as the Milwaukee Bucks as he was when he used the Celtics. I know he'll be spending time putting together a solid game plan to beat me. And, since he knows this Pacer team and how I like to use them, that will make it even tougher for me because he is already familiar with my roster. In my case, I have to prep for a whole new team.

The Bucks are in the Eastern Conference, so the series will follow a conference finals format of 2-2-1-1-1. As is customary, I have the home court advantage with the Pacers. The settings we will be using are Hall of Fame, simulation mode and 12 minute quarters.

I haven't played the Bucks before so the first step for me is to start to start looking at their roster and see what's in store for me. I like to break down each position and see what kind of offensive fire power they have.

Point Guards

The Bucks have three guys on the roster at point guard. The starter is Brandon Jennings and I'll expect to see a heavy dose of him during the games we play. I wouldn't be surprised to see Udrih come in at all since he it looks like he can shoot pretty well. I don't expect to see Livingston but that doesn't mean I won't. I'm pretty sure sreckless uses manual substitutions. There's a good chance Jennings might go the whole way barring foul trouble.

I like to go into practice mode and have a look at each player's hot zones. Here you can see that Jennings is mainly deadly from the left corner so I'll need to be aware of that. Since he is the point guard, he'll be spending most of his time near the top of the key early in the shot clock I'd assume. I just made a note to myself to check the Bucks and see who brings the ball up. He is still a threat from three so I can't leave him open. I'd also suspect that Jennings will be used to drive to hoop but unlike Rondo in the last series, he won't be as effective near the rim as he was - especially if I can get Hibbert near him. But he has a lot of great abilities so he will be a handful.

Udrih's hot zone chart is a little redder. He is particularly effective within the free throw line area and in. If it were me and I'll played Udrih, my first option would be to get him in the lane and get open looks if I could mainly because he is so highly rated in there. Otherwise, he's a decent shooter if he is open from the rest of the court. It will be important if he plays to guard him because of that. Even though he isn't rated as high as Jennings, he doesn't lose a whole lot except for some quickness if he does use him.

The last guy on the roster listed at point guard is Livingston. It looks like he can shoot inside and decent from mid range. It's not to say he doesn't have skills though. I've certainly seen scrubs play awesome before so anything is possible.

Shooting Guards

At shooting guard is their premiere player in Monta Ellis. The backup is Mike Dunleavy. I don't expect to see him much unless for some reason Monta would get into foul trouble.

My assistant coach "The Kid" did a create a legend with Monta and he was awesome. He's a good shooter and with a 91 inside rating is a good finisher.

A look at his hot zone chart shows him to be a better three point shooter at the top of the key and if I am going to give up some shots to him, it would be best if I shaded him to the right side of the court where he's a little colder over them so that's going to be part of the challenge.

Stopping Monta from killing us is our first goal. While we won't stop him completely, we can try and limit him and keep his shot percentage below 50 percent.

Now it's here I might suggest to my opponent that he start Mike Dunleavy in Monta Ellis' place but I doubt he will take me up on that one..lol.

If he wants to beat me with Dunleavy, I'll take my chances. One thing is for sure though, Mike Dunleavy can shoot so I will have to guard him.

Small Forwards

In checking with "The Kid" he tells me that the small forward spot isn't that strong of a position for the Bucks. There are three small forwards on the roster with Mbah A Moute being the starter. I could see all three of these guys seeing action. I am expecting I will see Delfino since he is a little hotter on the three from the corners but then isn't everybody?

Personally, I'm worried about the small forward spot because they aren't highly rated. I have played enough teams that have destroyed me with guys that they shouldn't. So, I will not be surprised if he gets some scoring from this spot.

Power Forwards and Centers

The Bucks are packed at power forward carrying six guys at the power forward spot.

Because of this, you can slide some of these guys into the small forward slot and to center. So, it's going to be interesting to see what he does with his lineup. The Bucks are pretty weak at center with Kwame Brown.

I think Ilyasova will provide sreckless some additional 3 point shooting which he likes and most likely start Gooden at the center spot. It will be a pleasure to not see Kevin Garnett down at center in this series.

Play Style

In looking at the Bucks and how they like to play, I started by looking at their playbook. I noticed that it is heavy on pick and rolls. I don't recall sreckless using the pick and roll much in our last series so it will be interesting to see how he approaches the game. I know that he is used to using Rondo to get to the basket and Jennings certainly has the skills to get into the lane and find open guys.

I know that in our last series, sreckless studied his play book to see what kind of gems he could find. Will he go to the pick and roll this series. That is yet to be seen.

What To Expect

The one thing I think is interesting about this upcoming series is that he is really strong at guard and the Pacers have a dominate low post game. In a way, each team is the flip side of the other.

That's not to say that the Pacers guards can't play, but on paper look weaker and I know sometimes against stronger competition they feel a lot weaker when I use them.

As always, I'll need strong play from everybody to pull out a victory in this series as methodical as sreckless is. Since I've yet to beat him, I'll claim underdog status.

Monday, March 12, 2012

I recently started a challenge with my NBA 2K12 readers which I call Coach2K's Best of Seven Series challenge. I started this challenge because when I was younger my friend and I would always play Tecmo football and we would always pick a team from opposite conferences, play a season and meet in the Superbowl. The NBA season is pretty long so we never did a complete NBA season but we would always play a best of seven series like it was the finals and whoever won had bragging rights.

I always found these series to be pretty intense and we always had to shoot like 80% to win. If you missed a few jumpers, it was so hard to come back.

To recreate that I started my challenge and this article represents my first in a series of articles about breaking down the game to figure out how to win against my opponent. The first breakdown is on analyzing your opponents hot zones and shot ratings.

The settings we are using are Hall of Fame, simulation mode and 12 minute quarters. Usually everybody plays 5 minute quarters in quick match, so the idea here is to create a more demanding game in which players might get in foul trouble and maybe get tired. Because of that, it might make it so that you have to rely on your bench in key moments of the game - something you don't have to do really on 5 minute quarters.

If you have read my stuff, you know that I will be playing the Indiana Pacers for all of my games. My first opponent is PSN ID sreckless. He is using the Boston Celtics. Since we are both Eastern Conference teams, the series format will mirror an Eastern Conference finals with two games in Indy, two in Boston and if necessary one in Indy, one in Boston and finally one in Indy.

Boston is going to be a very challenging matchup because the Celtics have a bunch of weapons both inside and out. It's going to be hard to stop everyone.

The first step for me when I break down and opponents game is to look at where each players hot zones are and who has the best shot ratings on the team.

My first few of these were pretty basic. I made a basic chart with some baskets on it. I'd go into freestyle practice mode, choose a team and choose each player and bring up their hot zones. I had some colored pencils and my assistant coach "The Kid" and I would go through and see where the hot zones were.

To the top is my first basic one of these. You can see it was pretty simple. This one was for the Clippers. The first one of these I created was for my Pacers. I used it to get use to where I wanted to shoot. Now, I pretty much have those spots memorized. When it comes to my opponent though, I don't necessarily know them by heart, so I make one I can look at during the game.

In my pursuit of learning to play better defense, the first step is to do my best to get people out of those zones.For my matchup with Boston, I went in and recreated this idea and fancied it up a little bit with the actual pictures from the game. A snippet is to the right and you can view the full shot chart here.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

I was browsing the NBA 2K Sports Forums and noticed a thread about My2K Rank. It talked about what everybody's My2k ranks were and what they meant. A question was asked about how do you get your My2K rank to a Hall of Fame level. In the picture to the right, I thought I would show you my badge so you can see proof that I really indeed did get the Hall of Fame badge. I think whenever you read anything online about NBA 2K12 that you really question the information you find because a lot of people say stuff that's just not true. It then gets spread around the internet like it is fact.

In the forums over at 2K, I was the only one who said they had achieved Hall of Fame status. This got me to thinking that it must be a lot harder to achieve than I thought and therefore mean a lot more than I thought as well. The funny thing is that I've had it for months. Well, I say I, but I'm sure that "The Kid" had a big part in it as he played a lot of the modes that probably helped us reach that status.

So, it also got me wondering exactly how to raise your My2K rank and build it to a Hall of Fame level. No one really seemed to know. Fortunately, I have been sending all of my achievements to my twitter feed. Here's a picture of my twitter feed the day I picked up the badge.

I didn't realize it but I've actually raised my 2krank to Hall of Fame level badge twice according to my twitter feed. Here's the announcement the second time. This probably had something to do with the freeze issue or online problems I'm guessing.

There are several My2K rank levels you have to reach. Everyone starts out as a Rookie. The next levels are Pro, All-star, Superstar and then finally the highest My2K rank level of Hall of Fame. Each My2K rank level, except Hall of Fame has certain numbers like Pro 1, All-star 2, etc. I think there are 4 or 5 levels to each badge.

How long did it take for me to get my My2K rank to Hall of Fame level in NBA2k12? It took me exactly 102 days.

If you are trying to figure out how to reach the Hall of Fame rank, these are the things we did to build our rank and get our Hall of Fame badge:

Completed the NBA's 15 greatest games.

Started several My Players

Started training camp

Played online in quick matches

Played a couple of team up games

Started several Creating a Legend files

Achieved several milestones in My Player and Creating a Legend

Achieved several team and NBA records in My Player and Creating a Legend

Played and simmed a bunch of seasons in an offline Association winning the NBA Finals and getting MVP's several times

Joined an Online Association and played some

Bought the downloadable content

Played horse in the DLC

Beat all the players in the two on two part of the DLC

Played a ton of games

Played a season file

Used practice mode a lot

Did some playoffs

Created our own players and teams

I personally think that in order to get your Hall of Fame My2K rank, you have to play a bunch of games, achieve several milestones and play (but not necessarily complete) all the modes in the game. For example, I didn't complete training camp until after I got my badge but I'm not a 100 percent sure.

My suggestion is to make sure that you play a lot of games and do something in every mode in the game.

It is also possible that the downloadable content I bought had an impact on that, but I'm not saying that as fact. We didn't achieve Hall of Fame level until after Christmas when we got that to check out. It could just have been a matter of timing. I'm not sure if it mattered. We didn't tweet all of our achievements to the twitter feed, but if you want to look back at all our tweets by checking out Coach2K's twitter feed. You might as well follow me while you are there if you have a twitter account.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

When I play NBA 2K12, I always have two keys to the game. The first is to get the best shot possible and therefore shoot a higher percentage than my opponent. The second is to keep my turnovers down. So in this tutorial, I am going to talk about how to reduce your turnovers by eliminating some of the more common mistakes I make and that I see when I play other people. If you have played online at all, then you know that it's a free-for-all with full court pressing and mashing the steal button constantly throughout the game. In this year's game, you'll see your share of Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat users that defend you all over the court. These tips will help you deal with that constant pressure.

While I don't know that these are all "technically" turnovers that show up in the box score as a turnover I see them as turnovers because the ball goes to the other team. So with that said, here are the top 25 turnovers I see and how I deal with them. In most games, I have eliminated a lot of these and it has vastly improved my game. Just like great shot selection, not turning the ball over does require some focus. I know some games, I lose my focus and turn it over a lot just like some games I don't shoot as well as I like. It really also depends on the quality of the defender you are playing. For the most part, my turnovers on average have gone down overall.

I started with turnovers in the backcourt and moved into the ones that happen in the front court. You will also notice that in several cases I recommend calling timeout to avoid the turnover. I guess it's possible you might run out of timeouts, but running out of timeouts has been pretty rare and honestly, I don't really remember running out of timeouts. A well timed timeout is good basketball strategy. I try and keep at least two timeouts for the end of the game. Below these tips is a video of a game where I turn it over a lot.

Turnover #1 - The five second call

While it's not usually a problem to at least hit the pass button, sometimes your players won't react. As you try and figure out how to get the ball in bounds, you run out of time and turn the ball over. I think this usually happens because a player down court has been selected. The game seems to have a safeguard to prevent you from just blasting it all the way down court. This safeguard makes it appear that you can't pass it in.

How to avoid turning it over: To avoid this, on the PS3, hit the R1 button and press the icon of the player you want to throw it into, then press the pass button. If that doesn't work, then call time out.

Turnover #2 - Getting the ball stolen when you make the inbound pass

Online, there's almost always a guy waiting ready to pick off the inbound pass. Sometimes it seems like there are three or four guys waiting. If you have an opponent who likes to press the full length of the court, then there are just more chances you will turn the ball over. If you turn the ball over here, the other team can get an easy dunk on you which can turn the momentum of the game in their favor.

How to avoid turning it over: Before you pass the ball in, look at the defense and see where the defenders are. Sometimes, it's just token pressure to see if you they can get a quick steal and if you wait a second they fall back. What I recommend here is to move the player who is supposed to receive the pass so that he is open in front of or to the side of the defender. The best possible way to do this is to move him right in front of your player that is inbounding the ball. This shortens the passing lane and makes it easier to get the ball inbounds.

Turnover #3 - Getting the ball stolen after you get the rebound

I've noticed a lot of times that I get the ball stolen from me right after I get the rebound. This can happen before you even realize that you have gotten the rebound which can be pretty frustrating because you didn't really have a chance to do anything. Before you know it, it's another dunk in your face or a quick shot and then the defense is right in your face again. Fortunately it doesn't happen all the time unless your opponent is constantly hitting the steal button. If so, then read on.

How to avoid turning it over: Make sure that you secure the rebound before you try and move your player. If it's a center or power forward and you want to make sure that there's no chance that he will lose the ball after getting the rebound, then on the PS3, hit the triangle button to protect the ball. It causes your player to pick the ball up and then it can be protected better than if you were standing there dribbling it. Sometimes, your guards will stupidly go up court leaving your center or power forward standing there. In this case, the best thing that you can do is advance the ball unless you get challenged then call a timeout so you don't get the ball stolen.

Turnover #4 - Getting the outlet pass stolen after a rebound

One of the great things about NBA 2K12 is that it is such a fast paced, exciting game. So what happens is that as soon as we get possession of the ball, we immediately hit the pass button to get the ball moving up court. The only problem is that a lot of people I play online are ready for that pass and pick it off. They seem to know exactly where to position their defender to get the easy steal. Then they get an easy basket.

How to avoid turning it over: Take your time. Once you get the rebound, find your point guard and wait for him to get open. Often you will need to move the player with the ball up court a bit to create that opening. Just be careful if you take your big men up court. They are easy to steal from so you might want to call time out if they get near a good defender.

Turnover #5 - Driving into the defender or getting double teamed and losing the ball

Once you start to move the ball up court, you will encounter defensive pressure that will try and bump you and steal the ball. Sometimes you even get double teamed. If your dribbling player is a big man, it's compounded by the fact that he is a poor ball handler, there's a huge chance the ball is going to get stolen. But even if he is your point guard, driving into the defender can cause you to lose the ball resulting in a fast break score for your opponent.

How to avoid turning it over: The first thing you want to do here is make sure that your big men aren't bringing the ball up court. Get the ball to your point guard and if that's not possible, get it to your shooting guard. If your big man has the ball and you can't get it to your point guard with defensive pressure coming, then call time out. If your point guard has it and the defense is extended move the ball with the left stick to dribble with the hand away from the defender. While it won't guarantee it won't get stolen, you will draw a lot more fouls that way when the defense starts reaching. If you find your player getting stuck in some sort of animation, pull back on the stick. Call time out if that doesn't do any good. To avoid double teams, try and stay near the center of the court and away from the deep corners. Usually if the double team comes there's an open man somewhere, look around for him and see if it's possible to make a safe skip pass to him. If not, pass to the nearest teammate instead. I prefer to dribble away from a double team and make the pass before I have to pick up my dribble. Again you can call time out if you are smothered in defense.

Turnover #6 - Charging fouls

Chances are that if you have a guy guarding you all over the court, you are going to also see his guy trying to take the charge every where as well.

I see this mostly in the back court as I am bringing the ball up the court. But of course, it can happen everywhere on the floor so be alert for it. The defenders will try and get position to draw the charge. While it's annoying, you still have to deal with it.

How to avoid turning it over: For the most part, if you avoid the defender and not turbo into them, you'll avoid the charges. Once you have seen it a few times, you will learn how to avoid it. It still happens from time to time with me, but it's few and far between.

Turnover #7 - Eight seconds in the back court

If a team is pressing you full court, it's primary objective is to either get a quick turnover, use up shot clock or just get you to rush your offense and take a bad shot. In the process of exerting all of this pressure, you'll sometimes be so focused on the defense, you will forget to get the ball over the center court line before eight seconds has expired and you will turn the ball over.

How to avoid turning it over: Watch the shot clock. If you see it getting close to 16 seconds, call time out. Also keep in mind that the defense is counting on you to use turbo or force a pass down court to get it across the line in time. If you use turbo, this makes you more vulnerable to the steal so don't do it near a defender (who you'll see reaching wildly). If you call time out, you have a fresh eight seconds to work with. I don't think it works this way in the real NBA (I'm not sure) so count yourself lucky.

Turnover #8 - Forcing bad passes on the fast break

Pushing the ball up court can result in easy baskets - if they are well timed and well placed. The first fast break turnover is when you throw it to the guy running up the court to get in the corner and when he catches it he runs out of bounds. Another is when you throw it to a guy that has bad hands and he bobbles it and loses it. The other one is when you pass it to a guy on the break and he moves from where you thought he would be towards the basket and right into the hands of the defender.

How to avoid turning it over: These turnovers can be frustrating. My first advice is don't make those passes. Take your time. Learn from experience whether the guy you pass it to is going to stay still or move or have time to catch it and stay in bounds.

It seems only natural that when you are bringing the ball up the court with your point guard that you should be able to sprint pass slower defenders like Pau Gasol of the Lakers and Joakim Noah of the Bulls. And it seems natural to think that if you are Darren Collison you could outrun a defender five feet behind you. But in the game it doesn't work that way. If you use turbo to get past a defender bringing the ball up court, you can almost count on them knocking it out of your hands.

How to avoid turning it over: Don't turbo bringing the ball up unless you have a clean path around you. Dribble the ball with the hand away from the defender and don't turbo. Unless the defender cuts off your path, you should be able to bring the ball up. If you stay towards the center of the court that will help as well. This keeps the sideline from being another defender.

Turnover #10 - Backcourt violation

Another turnover that I sometimes get is the backcourt violation. Not because I went over the line and back on my own, but because I got stuck in some sort of animation or was pinned to the half court line by the defense. It's better this year in that most often, the defense is called for a blocking foul if they run into you at the line and cause the violation (a change I like by the way), it can still happen.

How to avoid turning it over: Keep the ball handler away from the defenders near the half court line and don't cause collisions with them there. Also watch for the double team. I've surprised people at the line with a double team and gotten them to step on the line.

Turnover #11 - Getting the ball stolen by the defender

No matter what you do, you are going to have times where a great defender steals the ball from you. Chris Paul, Ronnie Brewer and Rajon Rondo have some of the highest steal ratings in the game. There are times that they will just get a steal if you are near them. I'm not saying that it's necessarily right that the game is that way, but that's the way it works.

How to avoid turning it over: The main things you can do are to avoid coming near defenders with high steal ratings with dribblers that have low ball handling and ball security ratings. Don't run the offense with your big men. If the defender is so much better than your point guard, use your shooting guard. But honestly, if you keep your turnovers to just this category, you won't have many a game, probably less than 3 to 5.

Turnover #12 - Passing to a player who is momentum is going out of bounds

Sometime you will make a pass to a guy who will immediately run out of bounds.

How to avoid the turnover: Make passes to players that are set or on there way to certain spots. If you are on the move, your teammates will be too and sometimes that movement if you get the ball to them at the wrong time will carry them out of bounds. Make note of when you see it happen and avoid that pass.

Turnover #13 - Dribbling out of bounds

I've noticed that sometimes I will get the rebound and my guy will just fly out of bounds. Or, I will dribble towards the baseline and just go right on out.

How to avoid turning it over: Use extra care near the baseline to not run into a defender and get forced out of bounds or to push your stick in the wrong direction.

Turnover #14 - Trying to throw the ball cross court

In real life basketball, coaches always teach you to never make cross court passes. I'm always amazed that even at the highest level of NBA basketball, I still see cross court passes and even in very crucial game situations it happens. In NBA 2k, some of my turnovers come in this area. The difference is that when I think of a cross court pass, I think of a pass going all the way from sideline to sideline. In the game though, just going from one side of the court to the other is a cross court pass and the majority of the times, it is easily picked off. It doesn't mean you can't get away with it, you can from time to time.

How to avoid turning it over: In 2k camera view, draw a line down the center of the court. Don't throw it over that line unless you have a wide open passing lane. It's better to make passes on the same side of the court. This is a tough rule to follow for me, but it's a good one that you should definitely avoid throwing over that imaginary line.

Turnover #15 - Forcing the pass

This is a big one for me. I want to get the ball to a player so I pass it. The only thing is that the player wasn't open. Then the pass gets intercepted.

How to avoid turning it over: Make sure your teammate is open before you pass it. If there is a defender between you and the man you are passing to, that's a good sign you shouldn't pass it. Notice in the previous picture with George trying to get it to West. There is a defender right there and I threw it anyway. You can't do that. This is an area where I could improve.

Turnover #16 - Throwing to the wrong guy by accident

I make heavy use of icons to pass to my teammates. I often leave them up and take them down when I am ready to shoot. A lot of times, I want to throw it to Paul George and throw it to Danny Granger instead because I hit the wrong button on accident. Since I am not a little kid, I am not as good using the controls as a kid might be and just make mistakes. I also sometimes decide to shoot with my icons still up and forget to take them down first. Because of that I might pass it by mistake (when I meant to shoot) resulting in a turnover. If you don't use the icons to pass, you can also throw it to the wrong guy because the pass button doesn't see where you want to throw it to. Often it's the wrong guy.

How to avoid turning it over: You can tell who the pass will go to if you use the pass button by looking at the darker gray circle under the intended player who will get the ball. I'm an icon passer because it's hard to recognize who has the gray circle. I tend to think of my players as their icon as well. Collison is X. George is O and so on. The first thing I do is make sure that if I sub I do it manually and that I am consistent about the position a player plays. And if I see that guy, he isn't square one game and triangle the next. One other thing I do is just be extra patient. This is another area where I need work.

Turnover #17 - Alley-oop-ing when it's not there

This isn't usually a big one for me since I rarely alley oop it at this point, but I do see people online alley ooping the pass to players who aren't there or forcing it. The ball goes sailing to nobody and many times I can just catch it.

How to avoid turning it over: Be sure and practice your alley oop hot spots where it's a sure thing.

Turnover #18 - Travelling

I sometimes get called for travelling when I fake it after doing a turnaround post move with Roy Hibbert. That's about the only time I have seen it but it happens to me when I am posting sometimes at crucial times.

How to avoid turning it over: Spend time in practice mode perfecting your post moves and try not to string to many moves together.

Turnover #19 - Three seconds

You can't stand in the painted lane area below the free throw line for more than three seconds. If you do, you get a three second call.

How to avoid turning it over: This one is fairly easy enough to avoid. Just don't camp in the lane. This is another one of those turnovers where one of your CPU teammates can get called for even if you aren't controlling them. It will happen when your teammates are expecting you to take a shot but instead you dribble around some more.

Turnover #20 - Moving screen

The pick and roll is one of the best plays in basketball. But if you don't run it correctly, you will turn the ball over. If the screener doesn't get set before he sets the screen and is moving when the ball handler runs his man into the screen, you are likely to get called for a foul and then turn the ball over.

How to avoid turning it over: To avoid getting called for an illegal moving screen, make sure the screener is set. He will kind of stiffen up when he is.

Turnover #21 - Backing your guy down while dribbling for five seconds

A more uncommon turnover is backing your man down into the paint for more than five seconds. If you press triangle and move into post position and then start dribbling and backing your man down into the lane, you can't do that longer than five seconds. This rule was put in place because Mark Jackson of the Pacers use to back his guy down until he scored. They didn't want the small market team getting any advantage so they limited that time.

How to avoid turning it over: Shoot with five seconds or pick up the ball. You can also hit triangle button again to get out of posting position. This will stop five second count.

Turnover #22 - Getting the ball stolen while making a dribble move or layup

You are more likely to turn the ball over at the beginning of a move. For example, at the beginning of a turbo move, if the defense times it right, they can cause a turnover. It works the same if you start and isomotion, layup or just move the ball in front of the defender. A well timed steal attempt will knock the ball loose.

How to avoid turning it over: Be aware of the defense and adjust your moves accordingly. Realize that you can't isomotion with players who don't have the skills and create space between you and the defender before you start the move. Know your players strengths and weaknesses as well as those of the player guarding you.

Turnover #23 - Over the back (loose ball foul)

Once the shot goes up in the air, you want to get good rebounding position. To get the rebound, you have to hit triangle to jump. If you are being blocked out and hit the triangle button, you could get called for going over the back.

How to avoid turning it over: In the picture to the right, I wasn't even controlling Collison and he committed the foul. So, it can happen even if you aren't controlling the guy. But what you will want to make sure of is that you don't hit the triangle button when you are being blocked out. Instead get good rebounding position then jump.

Turnover #24 - 24 second shot clock violation

Each possession you have 24 seconds to get a shot off. If you don't, it's a shot clock violation. Most players online probably don't know there is a shot clock they shoot so quickly. But if you take your time, the defense can cause you to run out of time.

How to avoid turning it over: If you see the shot clock get down to about 10 seconds, it's time to start getting in gear to get a shot. You'll notice that the shot clock starts beeping at 5 seconds to give you additional warning as to when the shot clock will expire. Personally, I'd rather the shot clock expire if I don't get a good shot. The reason? A bad shot that misses often leads to a fast break score for the other team. A shot clock violation means they take it out of bounds and have to bring it up against your defense which is already in position.

Turnover #25 - Rushing your possession and taking bad shots

This isn't really a turnover, but if the defense gets you to rush your possession and take a quick shot - or a bad shot - then they have succeeded. Many times, they can take that miss and turn it into a fast break.

How to avoid turning it over: Do everything you can to get the ball down court quickly and safely and get a GOOD shot.

How To Reduce Your Turnovers In NBA 2K12

The key to reducing your turnovers in NBA 2K12 is to first of all start looking at how many turnovers you actually commit in a game. When I first started playing, I would turn it over 10 to 15 times a game easy. Once I knew roughly how many turnovers I was committing, I could then focus on specifically where I was turning the ball over and work to correct and improve it and set a target turnover goal. My first objective was to get it under ten a game. I do pretty good at that for the most part but I still have problem areas and games where I do poorly. My goal now is to get it under 5 a game on average and to get my first zero turnover game.

Using the above list, I know from my game experience, that the areas I still need to work on are:

Turnover #5 - Driving into a defender and losing the ball

Turnover #8 - Forcing passes on the fast break

Turnover #11 - Getting the ball stolen by the defender

Turnover #14 - Trying to throw the ball cross court

Turnover #15 - Forcing the pass

Turnover #16 - Throwing to the wrong guy by accident

Turnover #17 - Getting the ball stolen while making a dribble move or layup

The turnovers in this list that I have the most trouble also include areas that I can control. I also know that I can improve on avoiding throwing the ball cross court, forcing the pass and just throwing it to the wrong guy by accident.

Now that I've identified the areas I need to work on, I can begin to focus my efforts in these additional areas specifically to reach my goal.

There you have it. My twenty five most common turnovers in NBA 2K12 and how to avoid them. If you follow the advice above, you will reduce your turnovers, shoot better than the other team and win more games online and offline. How do I know, because I have done it and I know it works. But just for fun, there's a video at the top where I turn it over a lot and talk about the 25 turnovers.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Today I wanted to talk about how to get better at shooting in NBA 2K12. Once you learn the concept of how to improve your free throw shooting in NBA 2K12, the next logical step is to work on your jump shot and shooting from the field. Just like a player's free throws, each player also has a specific shot release that you will have to master. If you follow this ten step guide, there is no doubt in my mind you will improve your shooting percentage from the field. Improve your team's field goal percentage and you will win more games. It's that simple. While I wrote this guide with the PS3 as my platform, for the Xbox the fundamentals below are the same. Just check your game manual for the proper game controls that you should use. You may not go into the detail I do in my guide, but then again as your Coach, I'm going to do everything I can to give you the edge you need to shoot the lights out.

Step One: Practice Shooting In Practice Mode On Hall Of Fame Mode Settings And The Camera View You Use In Games

[catalyst_hook_box name="googleinpost"]The first thing thing you will want to do is take your team into freestyle practice mode. Once in the practice mode, you will want to go into the game play settings and turn it on Hall of Fame mode. The reason I recommend shooting on Hall of Fame mode in practice is because it's the hardest mode to get a perfect release on. If you can do it on Hall of Fame mode setting, you will find it much easier to shoot on the lower levels of Rookie, Pro, Allstar and Superstar. I also suggest that you use the default speed setting of 55. I am assuming that this is the same speed that is used online. It's a good idea to use the same speed settings across all modes so that your timing is the same throughout every game mode for everyone's release on your team. I also set my camera view to 2k, the view I use in the games I play. You don't want to practice in one view and play games in another camera view. The timing and feel will be different if you do.

Step Two: Turn On The Shot Indicator And Shot Quality Feedback

Once you have done that, you will want to go to the menu again and choose presentation. Inside there, turn on shot timing feedback and adjust shot quality feedback to "all shots".

In addition to the shot indicator and shot quality feedback, one other thing you may not notice at first is that when you shoot, the circle under the player you are shooting with will flash blue when you should release the shot. The blue circle that flashes under your player does so automatically. You don't have to turn that indicator on in the settings.

With these settings turned on and the circle under your player flashing blue at the proper time, you will be set to master each player on your teams shot release.

Step Three: Learn The Proper Way To Shoot

On the PS3, there are two ways to shoot the basic jumpshot. The first way is to hit the square and release. The second way is to use the right stick. I usually pull and let it go for the release.

The question is should you use the square to shoot with or the right stick? While "The Kid" uses the square button sometimes and the right stick others, as your Coach, I strongly recommend using the right stick for all shots. I suggest using the stick for all of your shots. Your layups, your dunks and your jump shots. If you use the stick for all of them, then when it's time to shoot a layup with your hand opposite the defender, you won't have to switch to the stick. You'll already be in "stick" mode on all shots.

I also think that when I let go of the stick to release my jump shot that it feels more like a shot in real life. But that's just me.

To dunk, you will want to hold the R2 button and push the right stick forward. Pushing the stick in the other directions to dunk will change the type of dunk your player does. For example, to do a reverse dunk for some players, you would hold R2 and pull the right stick toward you. A player's dunk package determines what kind of dunk he does. I noticed that Roy Hibbert doesn't do a reverse dunk.

To shoot a layup, move the right stick to the hand you want to shoot with. Keep an eye on the defense and shoot with the hand away from the defense.

Step Four: Learn What A Perfect Shot Release Is

The first step in perfecting your shot release timing is to start shooting with one of the players on your team. As you do, you will notice the shot stick timing indicator in the top center part of the screen. It will show one of three settings:

Early - The shot indicator will show it just behind the players head and be in red

Perfect Release - The shot indicator will show at the top of the indicator and be in green

Late - The indicator will show at the front of the players head and be in red.

You can also tell whether you released the shot early, perfect or late by without a shot indicator by watching the result of your shot. If you release it early, it will be long, perfect and it will probably go in and late it will come up short. This is handy if you are playing online where there is no shot indicator. You can tell by looking at what your shot does by how you timed it.

The other thing that is important to note is that just because you release it in the green zone, doesn't mean that you will hit it every time. It's just more likely. Also, think of each release zone having a broader window of time rather than an exact early, an exact perfect or an exact late. This means that the shot indicator could be green and the release not be exactly perfect but still go in. It will also depend on the player you use, their ratings and hot zones from where you are shooting from. In games it will also depend on the defense and situation at the time.

Step Five: Practice Shooting With Each Player On Your Team To Learn Each Player's Perfect Shot Release

The next step then, is to practice shooing with each player on your team. In practice mode, you can substitute each player into practice mode to work on your timing. Your goal should be to learn to be able to get a perfect release with each player. You'll notice that each player on your team will have a different type of shot and because of this they will also have a different time you need to release the shot. This makes the game fun and challenging.

Mastering each player's proper release point might seem hard to do at first, but with practice, you can do it and once you learn how to do it, if you decide to play with another team in the league, it won't take you nearly as long to figure out. Here are some extra tips to master your shot releases.

With each player:

Experiment with the release to learn when you need to let go to get green every time you shoot.

Watch for the circle to flash to learn when you should release.

Watch each player's shooting hand and try and release when it starts to move forward.

Watch for other "tells" a player might show that indicates the right time to release. For example, Dirk Nowitzki kicks his legs out when you should release.

Take lots of shots in practice mode.

Start with one player, work on mastering their shot release until it becomes second nature. Then, work on the next guy on your team.

If you do those things, you will definitely improve your shot releases. Start with one player, master their shot release, and then work on another. Before you know it, you will have mastered everyone on your team.

Keep in mind that you can release a shot perfectly and it won't go in every single time. It doesn't in real life and it won't in the game either.

Step Six: Learn What Shots Your Players Shoot Best By Looking At Each Player's Hot Zones And Shot Ratings

While it might be obvious that you won't shoot three's with your center if he's a horrible outside shooter, it might not be so obvious where to shoot with the other players on your team. Can they shoot three's? Are they a better mid range shooter? Do they like certain spots on the floor over others. If you have played basketball in real life, you know that you had certain spots on the floor that you liked to shoot from. For me, it was the wing behind the three point line. The players on your team are exactly the same. To figure this out, there are basically two things you want to look at:

Your player's hot zones.

Your player's shot ratings.

There are fourteen zones on the hot zone chart. The outer ring is the three point ring, the ring just inside of that is the midrange zone, the ring just inside of that is the close zone and finally, the ring inside the take charge circle is the inside zone.

You'll notice that the hot zones are color coded. Red for hot, gray for neutral and blue for cold. From my experience, what it means is that in a red zone, maybe in practice you would hit 7 or more from that zone out of ten. A neutral zone, maybe 6 or more and blue 5 or more. Any given time, you might hit more or less just like a real shooting practice would be.

It's not an exact science. You can hit shots from all zones. You can miss shots from all zones. From the same spot, you will probably hit more shots if the zone is red than grey and more from grey than from the blue.

Knowing your players hot zones is only part of the equation. The second part is how well your player shoots within each ring. You can find this by going into the substitution menu and looking at a players ratings.

Each player has ratings for inside, close, medium range and three point shots.

The higher the rating the better the shooter. If you get to know your team and know for example, that one player is a good shooter from medium range and you are set and open with that player, get a perfect release and it's in a hotzone, you will have a better chance it will go in.

Step Seven: Learn To Take Good Shots By Improving Your Shot Quality And Shot Selection

If you hit a high percentage of your shots, there is a pretty good chance you will win the game. To do that, you have to learn to take good shots. The first step in doing that is by paying attention to the shot quality grade in the upper left corner of the screen when you take a shot. Each shot is graded from a high of "A+" to a low of "F". The more A+'s you get, the more likely you are to score. Again, and this is important to note, it doesn't mean you will make every shot. It just means that you have a greater chance it will go in. You get A+'s by taking good wide open set shots in the areas your player shoots well from. You get lower grades by taking shots with a hand in your face or outside your players range or by poorly releasing the ball during the shot.

What is a good shot?

When I play the game, I do the best I can to take good shots. I don't always succeed but for the most part I do a pretty good job. It depends on my mood and focus at that particular time as well as how good of a defender my opponent is. Because I think the game for the most part is just a matter of shooting a higher field goal percentage than my opponent, my goal is to shoot as high a percentage as possible and keep my turnovers down. I will definitely be in the game if I do that that's for sure. I consider a good shot to meet the following criteria.

You are within the three closest circles of the hot zones (and mostly the first two). Those are the "inside" zone, the "close" zone and the "medium" zone. I do everything I can to get shots in that range. A dunk is ideal.

You wait until all five of your guys are down court with you. There are more rebounders that way as well. Unless you have numbers on the fast break, pull it out set it up.

You work the ball around and don't take the first available shot. You can always pretty much get a three. A few passes and you might get a dunk instead.

Your feet are set. You aren't leaning, running or fading away.

You are open and the shot is not being challenged.

You use a shot fake if you are in range of a defender (most important in the inside zone) to get the defender off his feet and move to get a better wide open set shot.

You get a perfect release.

You shoot in a hot zone for your player.

You shoot in a zone that your player is highly rated for.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take threes. But take open ones where your feet are set with the right players in their favorite spots. The guidelines above will definitely improve your shooting percentage.

Plus, there's an added benefit that if you shoot from inside a lot, you will also get fouled. This will result in going to the line more often and ultimately getting a few and one's during the course of a game. I have even fouled out Lebron online before because it. That's an extreme case, but stuff like that does happen.

What is a bad shot?

A bad shot is basically the opposite of the above. A bad shot has the following characteristics.

You are shooting all of your shots from the outside two zones.

You force the fast break when you don't have an advantage. There are attacking more defenders, going one on three for example.

You take quick shots before all of your players are down the court with you.

Your feet are not set. You are leaning, running or fading away.

You have defense in your face.

You don't get a good release.

You shoot with the wrong players in the wrong spots in the wrong zones.

Can you still hit bad shots? Of course you can. It just means you will shoot a lower percentage than you could have over the course of a game and it will make it harder for you to win the game.

Good shooters (shooters with stars and the 3 icons next to their feet) can often hit shots that other players wouldn't normally hit. But even then, it's best to get good shots with them as well. Give yourself the best chance to hit the shot and those guys will be unstoppable.

Step Eight: Follow A Regular Practice Routine To Keep Sharp

Once you know all of the above, the next step is to put together a practice routine to improve your teams overall shooting as a whole and keep it sharp. What I recommend is working with each player on your team and practice shooting from all the zones they would realistically shoot from in games on a regular basis. I would try and do a full routine once a week. I'd take 10 shots from each zone and strive for a perfect release on each shot. Here's the routine I would follow:

Shoot ten shots from each zone working your way around the gym. Try your best to get a green shot stick timing indicator and A+ grade on each shot.

Spend more time taking shots your player would take in the game. So don't worry about taking shots with your centers from three point range unless that's one of their specialties.

Record your practice results to find your best hot spots. Your timing might be better in one zone over another.

Spend extra time practicing threes with your three point specialists and more time shooting midrange shots with your midrange specialists.

Before I play each day, I would take a few shots in practice mode with some of my key players in some of their favorite spots that I know I will use during the games.

Chart your shots made and shots attempted from each zone. Here is the list of zones.

Three point left corner

Three point left wing

Three point top

Three point right wing

Three point right corner

Mid range left baseline

Mid range left wing

Mid range center

Mid range right wing

Mid range right baseline

Close left baseline

Close top

Close right baseline

Inside

Step Nine: Analyze Your Game Performance By Reviewing The Shot Charts For Each Player And Compare That Performance To Your Practice Sessions

The final step to improving your overall shooting percentage in NBA 2K12 is to see how you shoot in actual games and compare that to your practice sessions. At the end of each game, a shot chart is available for each player. It tells you what zone they shot in and the number they made or missed. This is your best tool because it tells you where your shots come from when you have to face an actual defense and will tell you where you need to practice. Knowing where you tend to shoot in the games will help you improve your practice routine.

See where those shots are coming from and start recording those shots in a spreadsheet. By tracking your actual shooting from games, you will be able to find out the following:

Are you getting good shots inside the first three zones?

Are the bulk of your shots coming from your best shooters in those zones?

Are you shooting most of your shots outside the inner three circles?

Are you shooting from a players zones who are cold?

Could you shoot with different players who might shoot better that have higher ratings?

Although I think it goes without saying, the number one thing you can do to improve your overall shooting is shoot with the guys on your team that are the best shooters. If you can't shoot with them, make sure you are not shooting with the guy who is the worst percentage shooter on your team. Here's the spreadsheet I've started for my Indiana Pacers.

Step Ten: Don't Ignore Game Momentum

There is one other thing that affects your shooting in NBA 2K12. That is the momentum of the game. If the other team is flying high getting fast breaks, dunks and three's you will find that it will be harder to make shots. This is more so when you are on the road and the crowd is going crazy. During these times of the games, you will want to buckle down and get a good shot within the first two zones - inside and close - preferably a dunk. Otherwise, even perfect shot releases may not go down if momentum is not on your side. Conversely, if you are on a roll, have been finishing fast breaks and dunking the ball, if you get an open three you are more likely to sink it if you using the right shooters and are open.

If you hit a few shots in a row, you may also see a red fire symbol next to your player. Sometimes people think that this gives you the green light to shoot from anywhere and you will hit the shot. It just means you will be a little more likely to hit your next shot. Keep taking good shots and don't take shots you wouldn't normally take. Getting to the free throw line also warms your guy up and can trigger the fire symbol. If you miss a few shots in a row, instead of a red fire symbol, you will see a blue ice symbol. When you see this, it's probably more likely you will miss. I also would watch shooting jump shots when your player is tired. You will know he is tired when you see the "G" Gatorade symbol. Call time out to get some rest.

I have also noticed is that some shooters don't shoot well every game. They can have an off game. It could be the defender they are up against. Whatever the reason, be prepared to give a "heat check" to other players on your team when you find one struggling. They often pick up the slack and if you find someone that is getting the job done, keep working it until your opponent stops it.

If you follow ten step guide NBA 2K12 shooting tips, you will be well on your way to shooting a higher percentage and winning more games. Good luck!

If you like this guide and it helped you, do me a favor and share it on the internet where ever you can.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

In real life basketball, many games are decided by just a few points. It's often the case that if a team had shot better from the line, they would have won. Depending on your style of play in NBA 2K12, free throws can often be just as important. I know when I first started playing NBA 2K basketball, the first few games I had a chance to win I lost because I couldn't ice the game. This was because I didn't know my players free throw releases. Once I lost, I knew I had to do one thing - learn how to practice my free throws in NBA 2K12.

[catalyst_hook_box name="googleinpost"]So after I decided to make the Indiana Pacers the team I wanted to master, I knew one of the first things I would need to do besides master their shot releases was to master their free throw shot releases.

The best way to do that is to go into free throw practice mode and start shooting free throws with all the players on your roster. Once you are in there, it's a good idea to have a game plan in mind to get the most out of your practice session.

The first thing that you need to know once you get into the gym to practice your free throws is that you will be at the line already with an info box underneath you that has the player's information that you are shooting with. Next to that, you will find four release points. Those are too early, slightly early, perfect and late. To the right, you will see your free throws made, free throws attempted and your percentage of made free throws. These tools help you keep track of your progress.

Each player on your team will have a different release. You'll need to learn the timing of when to release the shot for each player. What you will want to do is take a few shots. As you take these shots, the game will tell you whether you were early, perfect or late. Pay close attention to this feedback and adjust your release accordingly.

Some players have releases that are easy to master because their "window" of perfect release is big. With some players, they have smaller windows of perfect release and it's harder to nail it. It will take some practice to get their releases perfectly.

Here are a couple of tips to help you. While I don't use it, you will notice that the circle under your player will flash blue right at the point of the perfect release. I tend to watch their hands. When their hands stop their backward motion and begin to move towards the basket, somewhere in there will be your perfect release.

Once you get the hang of finding a players perfect release, here are three drills that I use to improve my free throws in NBA 2K12. I recommend doing them at least once a week.

DRILL #1 - Shoot 50 shots with each player and record your percentage.

I like to go in and shoot with every player on my roster. I think 50 is a good number. With 12 players on your roster this means you will shoot about 600 free throws. This will take you about an hour. My goal with each player is two fold. The first is to hit as many out of 50 as I can. The second is to get as high a percentage of perfect releases as I can. I think it's also a good idea to record these practice sessions so you can see if you are improving or not.

Here's a spreadsheet that shows my practice sessions so you can see how I record my results.

DRILL #2 - Shoot with each player until you hit 10 consecutive free throws in a row

The next drill I do sometimes is to shoot with each player on my team until I hit 10 in a row. This is extra tough with some players but it really makes you take the time to find each player's perfect release. With some players, you will nail the 10 right away but with others it's going to be a challenge.

I shoot all10 free throws even if I don't hit all ten. I then go to the menu and reset the counter. Then I start another ten. Even if I miss one of the first few, I still shoot all ten. Then I reset. I repeat this until I get 10 in a row with each player.

DRILL #3 - Shoot as many consecutive free throws as you can with each player

Another thing I like to do is see how many free throws I can make in a row with each player. I shoot until I hit and then shoot until I miss. If I miss the first shot, I will reset the counter. Then shoot again. If I hit that shot I will keep shooting until I miss a shot.

If you do these things, you will quickly find that you can shoot a very high percentage from the line. I shoot over 80 percent from the line as a team with my Pacers after just two sessions.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

A new mode in this year's NBA2K12 was called the NBA's Greatest Mode. In it is a collection of 15 games containing some of the greatest players in NBA history. They range from Wilt Chamberlain to Jordan. The games are fun to play as the old legends of the game. As a Pacer fan, I was disappointed that it didn't include the Reggie Miller teams of the 90's and also disappointed that Charles Barkley is not in the game. It's said that there must be some contract issues but who really knows why they were left out.

Aside from that, it's a great feature to add to the game and we had a lot of fun unlocking all of the legends to play whenever we wanted. The first step is in unlocking the greatest players in history is to play each game and win with the great highlighted for that particular game.

Here is a list of the NBA's greatest in the game. Once you win, then you unlock the rosters for the teams listed.

Once you unlock the teams, you can the use them in for Quick games. Once you unlock all 15 games, you can then use two players in the NBA's greatest mode.

Tips:

You don't have to use the greatest guy on the team. All you have to do is win. You can use any player.

You can play on rookie mode so that it's easy.

Play again on higher level to get more challenging play.

Rookie mode was harder than we expected. But that was when we first started playing. It would probably be

If you preordered the game you can unlock 90-91 Warriors and Sacramento Kings 01-02 with the code you were given at the time of purchase. Unfortunately, once it's used, you can't use the code again.

It was cool to see Phil Jackson as a player and we were disappointed that we couldn't see the shotstick in the Bill Russell game. My funnest game was scoring 98 points with Oscar Robertson. He has a sweet jumper.

Moving players around. Playing them online

Another tip is if you want to play it quickly, play one minute quarters to go quicker through it.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Since NBA2K12 was released, your Coack2K and his son "The Kid" have been playing this year's My Player. We have a lot of fun as well as frustrating moments with My Player but aside from a few issues we see, it is still a great part of NBA2K12. While I think a lot of people expect the game to be perfect, I'm old enough to remember Dr J and Larry Bird on the Commodore 64 and the Mattel hand held LED basketball game. Games have come a long way since then and so I have to say that for the most part I'm impressed even though I know things could be better here and there.

That said, we know that there are a lot of fans of the game who want to know how to get the most out of My Player and so we decided we would take everything we know and discover and collect it on this page and call it "The Ultimate Strategy Guide To The NBA2K My Player Mode." It's my hope that you'll have all of your questions answered right here on this page. If there is something you want to know, please put your question at the bottom and we will make sure to include it here as well.

What You Will Learn In This Guide

What Is The My Player Mode?

How To Create Your Player

Should You Be A Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward or Center?

How To Play Well In The Rookie Showcase

How To Decide What Team To Play For So You Can Answer The Draft Interview Questions

How To Get An A+ Teammate Grade

How To Earn Skill Points

Which Attributes Should I Raise First?

How To Achieve The Milestones?

Should I Play Every Game Or Just The Key Games

Should You Request A Trade Or Play Out Your Contract?

What Is NBA2K's My Player Mode

When my friend and I were younger, we envisioned a day when you could create yourself in the game, practice and get better and eventually play in the NBA game. (We took it a step further and imagined we would play against all other created players online which is kind of here as well but not quite.) While we dreamed this up in the early nineties, that day is now here.

In My Player mode, you can create a likeness of yourself, decide what type of player you will be and get drafted by an NBA team. You then have a chance to earn more minutes, get into the starting lineup and eventually work your way up to winning and NBA title and becoming inducted into the Hall of Fame.

My Player - The Creation

Before you can start playing, your My Player career starts with "The Creation". This is where you will be able to customize your My Player and make him look the way you want as well as choose what position you want to play as well as what type of player you want to be. There are a number of sections you'll need to flip through to create your My Player. The first time through, I missed several options that I discovered earlier.

The are ten sections to creating your My Player. Those sections are:

Vitals - In the vitals section, you can pick your name. While you can pick your own name, we recommend using an alias in case at some point you take your My Player online you will retain some privacy. You can also pick a nickname. You can pick your favorite college as well. Probably the most important parts of this section are what position you pick to play as well as your play style. Obviously, you can pick a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward or center. If this is your first time playing My Player, we suggest picking a point guard so that you will have more opportunities to handle the ball. While that will be your natural position, depending on the team that drafted you, you will most likely play as shooting guard some too before you crack the starting lineup. As you get more experience with how it works, our next position we would consider is center to learn how to post and rebound. As far as play styles go, if you go with a point guard, it might be best to choose 3 point specialist so you can shoot better right out of the gate. We still shoot poorly when we first start. Just keep in mind that you will get better the more you play as you acquire additional skill points to upgrade your attributes. As you do, you will perform better. Play Styles by positions: Point guards - All around, pass first, scoring, defensive, 3 point specialist, athletic. Shooting guards - All around, scoring, defensive, 3 point specialist, athletic, slashing. Small forwards - all around, scoring, defensive, 3 point specialist, athletic, slashing, point forward. Power forwards - All around, defensive, athletic, back to basket, face up, rebounding. Center - All around, defensive, athletic, back to basket, face up, rebounding.It's here that you will also pick what your number is, whether you are right or left handed. You can also choose four play types. At first, we use the default play types. Your age is also an option. You can be any age from 19-28 years old. We suggest starting at 19. Ultimately, if you have played organized basketball you probably have a general idea of the type of player you like to be (or wanted to be). Let that be your main guide. As My Player, I decided on Coach2K with a nickname of Mr. Fundamentals because I want to promote solid traditional game play for the most part. I also like to shoot the three.

General - In the general section, the most important part of this section is your players height and weight. Point guards can be 5'7" to 6'7". Shooting guards can be 5'10" to 6'9". Small forwards can be 6'4" to 7'0". Power forwards can be 6'5" to 7'1". Centers can be 6'8" to 7'2". Because I wanted some height at shooting guard, I went with 6'7". As far as weight, I picked 225. For ideas on weight, look at actual players in the game to match up your weight to your height. The rest is just about looks.

Head - More options on how you look.

Hair- More options on how you look.

Accessories - Things you can wear. I use team color one so I will match my uniforms.

Tattoos - Various options for tattoos.

Shoes - Many different options for shoes. I also use team color one so I will match

Attributes - Once you choose your position and play style, you cannot change these.

Abilities - Once you choose your position and play style, you cannot change these.

Signature - In the signature section, you can customize your shot releases. This is something you can change later. What you will want to do here is use a shot release you can master. I personally use Gilbert Arenas. Shot timing is key to hitting shots.

Once you have finished creating your My Player, choose a save file and move on.

The Rookie Showcase

After you create your My Player, the first step in your upcoming career is to play in "The Rookie Showcase". The Rookie Showcase is your only chance to impress the NBA scouts (along with the pre-draft interviews) and affects where you will be drafted in the NBA Draft. The game is between the Rookie Stars versus The Elites. You will be on The Elites. My game was at Showcase Arena in New York City. It looks like the game is really at Madison Square Garden even though in my video it was called Showcase Arena.

At the end of the 1st half, you will get a scouting report that tells you what you need to work on and whether your draft stock is rising, falling or staying the same.

In Coach2K's rookie showcase, my team won 87-76. I had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists and received an A+ Teammate grade. I didn't shoot very well with 33% from the field and turned the ball over twice. The key to performing well is playing good team basketball. Take good shots, don't turn the ball over and get your teammates involved. For more information on how to get an A+ Teammate grade, see the section below that discusses how to get an A+. Just do the best that you can and move on.

I received 1570 skill points in the game which I could use before I start my career.

Pre-Draft Interviews

Once you complete The Rookie Showcase, you will be taken right to the pre-draft interviews. Here, you will be interviewed by three teams with picks in the first round. Each team will you ask you two questions. For each question, you will have a choice of four different responses. Depending on how you answer the questions, you might affect whether that team picks you. As far as what we recommend for pre-draft strategy, if you don't want to play with a team, say so if given the opportunity. Ultimately no matter where you go, you will play so it doesn't matter as much as you might think. Although some people prefer not to go to a team that is loaded at their position.

As Coach2K, I was interviewed by the Warriors, the Suns and the Rockets. My strategy was to not play at Golden State and I said so. I was agreeable to playing with the Suns and the Rockets. In our experience, we have never gone to a team we didn't interview with. If you don't like the team that eventually drafts you, you can always request a trade after five games.

The Draft

After your pre-draft interviews, you will receive a report that projects where you will go in the draft. Coach2K was projected to go to the Suns with the 13th pick. Then, the NBA draft commences with David Stern hosting. Now that the lock out is over, the rookies are in the draft. We experimented with how high we could go in the draft as well as how low we could go. The Kid went as high as number ten to the Milwaukee Bucks and when he tanked The Rookie Showcase and got a Teammate Grade of F he went as low as number 23rd to the Houston Rockets. We think that you will most likely be drafted between the 11th and 18th picks. We also think that draft order has a lot to do with the position you play as well as the number of rookies at your position. Of course, in the pre-draft interviews if you tell a team you don't want to play there while telling another team you want to play with them, that could affect your overall draft spot. Your performance in The Rookie Showcase probably affects it as well. Playing horrible still means you go in the first round which is different from last year when The Kid did get drafted in the second round.

Here is the draft order:

Cleveland Cavaliers

Minnesota Timberwolves

Utah Jazz

Cleveland Cavaliers

Toronto Raptors

Washington Wizards

Sacramento Kings

Detroit Pistons <------ Highest we've been drafted

Charlotte Bobcats

Milwaukee Bucks

Golden State Warriors

Utah Jazz

Phoenix Suns <------ Coach2K drafted, The Kid drafted ------ >

Houston Rockets

Indiana Pacers

Detroit Pistons

New York Knicks

Washington Wizards

Charlotte Bobcats

Minnesota Timberwolves

Portland Trailblazers

Denver Nuggets

Houston Rockets <------ Lowest we've been drafted - on purpose

Oklahoma City Thunder

Boston Celtics

Dallas Mavericks

New Jersey Nets

Chicago Bulls

San Antonio Spurs

Chicago Bulls

As far as Coach2K, I went number 13 to the Phoenix Suns.

Rookie Contract Negotiations

When the draft is over, you will go straight to draft negotiations. As a rookie, you have little say over your contract as it is basically based on your draft position. It will contain what role the team expects you to play and will pay you the maximum you can be paid at your draft position.

Coach2K was offered a $1.65 million dollar annual salary and a role as a bench player.

The rookie contract is for two years. At the end of two years, you will be able to negotiate a new contract. Chances are you will be a much better player than when you first started and will be able to command a much higher salary.

After you accept the contract, your rookie season will begin. Right before your rookie season, you will receive a welcome letter from the team that drafted you announcing your first endorsement. It's a billboard that says "The Future Has Arrived". We always joke that when you request a trade, it should say, "The Future Has Departed".

Set Your My Player Settings

After your contract negotiations are finished, the next thing that we did was go into and adjust them for the type of game that we wanted to play. The first step is to go into controller settings. I make the shot stick camera relative and always turn passing icons on, along with icon passing and total control passing. I then go into game mode settings and change it to the level I want, simulation mode, 12 minute quarters and run plays off. I still turn on the ability to see plays because out of bounds plays still use them. I personally leave autosave on. Some people like Chris Smoove recommend turning it off for the drills to get speed increases. I don't worrry about it.

The most important thing to me was setting my quarter length to twelve. At first, when you are coming off the bench, you will only play about twenty total minutes. Later, the games will last longer but the additional time gives you time to get your Teammate Grade up. I think it's more like real basketball since that is what you would play in real life. Of course if you are short on time, reduce the quarter length.

As far as playing level, I started on Pro my first season because I wanted to enjoy it. I may increase the difficulty level after the first season. I also use simulation over default. I'm a fairly new player (just started playing last year) so I started easier although I have won on Hall of Fame mode before with the Indiana Pacers. Just work your way up as you get better each year.

The other thing that I like to do is turn off commentary and use the on court sounds maxed up. This makes me feel like I'm actually playing because if you think about it, you don't hear commentary while you are playing. But that's just me. It will save your settings once you set them if you have auto save on and you'll be all set.

Shoot Around With Your My Player And Scrimmage

The next thing you will want to do is go into the shoot around section and work on your shot release. Make sure that when you go into shoot around mode that you adjust the settings so you can see the shot stick indicator and the shot quality. Then, once you have done that, start practicing your shot release.

Practice so that you can get your shot release on the green. If it is red, it is too early or late. Watch the indicator. The blue circle flashes under your player to also give you and idea of when you should release your shot. After awhile, it will become second nature. Even once you get your release right, it doesn't mean that it will always go in. It depends on the defense, whether you are tired, where you took the shot from, what kind of shot you took and the game situation.

Do your best to take shots where you have both feet set and are open. Avoid taking leaners, fadeaways and spin jumpers until your abilities reflect you can do those well and you have practiced them. Expect that you won't shoot well at the beginning of your career and expect that you will also miss layups quite often. It's just the way the game works. One additional My Player tip: Remember to utilize the shot fake in games.

I also scrimmaged with the team once to get a feel for who was on the team. But I didn't do it again after that. I tend to practice in my games.

My Strategy On How To Get And Use Skill Points To Increase Your My Player Attributes And Abilities

Once you start playing games, your first goal is to win. Within that goal, your secondary mission is to play well so that you can get skill points to increase your attributes. These are then ways to increase your skill points.

Do the drills - Doing drills gives you additional skill points. The drills rate you as gold, bronze or silver. Get a gold and get a plus one attribute for certain attributes. You don't have access to the drills all the time. You start off being able to do three. Then over time, you get additional chances to do the drills. I just do them in order as I get additional drills.

Play games and play well - Playing smart by taking good shots, taking care of the ball, getting assists and playing good defense.

Meeting in games objectives - Before each game, you will be given a list of three objectives that if you achieve them will give you additional skill points.

Dynamic in game goals - During the game you will have a chance to achieve and objective based on the game situation to achieve additional skill points.

Be named player of the game.

Get an A+ Teammate Grade - Getting a top grade gives you more skill points.

Achieve Milestones - Reaching milestones increases your skill points.

The Key Game Multiplier - The key game multiplier doubles your skill points. By achieving more milestones in those games, you will maximize your skill points bonus. I just play within the game while trying to achieve milestones.

How To Get An A+ Teammate Grade

Getting an A+ Teammate Grade should be your objective every time your player steps on the floor. If you get an A+ it basically means you played a complete game on both ends of the floor. It means that you played good defense, took good shots and worked with your team to do the best that you could do to win.

At first, it might seem like getting an A+ is difficult but as your player progresses, you'll find it easier because he will be stronger and you will have more experience.

Here are some tips to get the A+:

Play 12 minute quarters. The extra time gives you more time to get your grade up.

When the guy you are guarding has the ball, call for a double team. This works best if your guy is the point guard because he has the ball more often. As soon as they throw the ball in, call for a double team. On the PS3, you do that by hitting L1 for a count of one. Get your hands up and get up into the offensive player. You might tip the pass, steal the ball, get a jump ball or cause a turnover. Double team in the corners especially, when he is trying to cross the half court line and when your opponent picks up the ball.If he passes the ball, the moment he gets it back call for the double team again. Some players are great at avoiding the double team. Others find the open man who hits the shot. Do the best can to help your teammate cover the open guy. You might lose the possession or the game but will save your Teammate Grade.

Don't let your guy score. The best way that you can accomplish this is to make sure he doesn't get the ball. Defend your opponent all over the court and don't help. If he does get the ball, call for the double team and force him to get rid of it.

Don't take bad shots. Look to take open set shots off of pick and rolls. Avoid taking leaners, spin jumpers and fadeaways until your player has those abilities.

Don't foul. If you constantly hit the steal button, you will get called for fouls. Just get your hands up by using the right stick.

Get assists. Pass the ball to your teammates. Find the open guy by moving the ball around the court. The best way to get ball movement is to move to the part of the court where the player you want to get involved in the offense is. He'll move from that area. If he moves to the basket, hit him while he is cutting and he'll probably lay it in.

Box out when shots go up. Get between your man and the basket and hold L2 and R2. Then try and time your jump to get the rebound.

Set screens by using the circle button. Set back screens so your teammates can cut to the basket rather than screens that on the top.

Don't call for pass. If you aren't open, it will only count against you.

Don't try and take bad charges.

Get steals and blocks.

The things above will help you get to an A+ Teammate Grade. Here are other things we found that impact your grade.

Dynamic Goals

Dynamic goals appear while you are actually playing a game. They are based on what is going on in the game at that time. By completing dynamic goals, you can earn more skill points. These are the dynamic goals we have seen so far:

About Coach2K

I'm Coach2K. I am a big fan of NBA2K basketball and I always play as the Indiana Pacers online. I put this site together to share what I have learned about the game. If you want to improve your game this is a good place to start. I hope to coach you to motivate yourself to play at a hall of fame level. Read more